The Wall Street Journal reports that Michael Jackson is joining a growing chorus shouting "take your medicine." No it's not MJ handing a can of Coke to a young fan. It's the CEO of mega-dealer AutoNation, who thinks "high gas prices are good for the U.S. auto industry." Just as Scott McClellan trash-talking the Bush administration, Jackson is biting the hand that feeds. "We are highly skilled at selling size, horsepower and speed at a premium price, and giving away fuel efficiency," Jackson opines. "Now, going forward over the next 10 years we are going to have to convince consumers why they should pay more for a smaller engine, or some new technology, that is going to give them a tremendous benefit on fuel efficiency." Surely it's a new day in the US of A when the top car salesman in the land embraces the challenge of selling fuel efficiency. Who's bad?

Problem: the Toyota Camry is being outsold almost 2-to-1 by Dodge's Avenger among black customers. "Here's this nameplate that's ubiquitous," said Monica Warden, account director for Burrell, Toyota's agency of record or African-American advertising. "But for an African-American woman, it's not even in her consideration set. Our preliminary testing found they think of it as suburban, not urban; as solid but boring. And for this woman, she doesn't see herself as boring." To raise sales of its best-selling dullard, Toyota hired the company responsible for the intriguing (at least to us fanboys) The Dark Knight (movie) viral ad campaign. The result this site: If Looks Could Kill. It features a subtle sales pitch, serial web movies and who knows what else. The Dark Knight campaign had fanboys running around the San Diego Convention Center in Joker facepaint; we'll see what curious activities will arise from ILCK.com.

You may recall that GM recently blamed Saturn's rapidly sinking sales on the brand's "awareness problem." The spin that started there has spiraled over to GM's two-mode hybrids. Automotive News [AN, sub] earnestly reports that "so far, the word isn't getting out… Marketing to build awareness, and move the metal, has to be kicked up." Ah, that MUST be it! 'Cause… GM says so! "There's very little awareness that we even have these products," GM marketing maven Mark LaNeve tells an entirely credulous Jamie Lareau. "We're going to be constrained by battery availability, but we still think that we could work it up to 5 to 10 percent of our full-sized SUV sales." Constrained? As in "we can't get them?" To be fair (hey, it's Monday), AN points out that the mondo-expensive hybrid SUVs are a gigantic flop: they've sold just 1,540 Tahoe and Yukon hybrids  compared to their 8k to 12k annual sales target. This may have a little something to do with it: "The top-end, four-wheel-drive Tahoe LT starts at $40,460. The hybrid starts at $50,490. The Yukon starts at $36,245 and the top-end, all-wheel-drive Yukon Denali at $50,380. The hybrid starts at $50,945. All prices include shipping." Ouch.

The AP reports that U.S. minivan sales are down a pickup-truck like 20 percent so far this year, against an overall light vehicle market drop of eight percent. Ford has already given up on minivans; they scuttled the Freestar in 2006. GM is nearly done as well; deep-sixing the Ten Worst-winning Chevy Uplander. Some would-be minivan buyers are moving to "crossovers" and others are downsizing more radically. Some market watchers see a minivan renaissance ahead, as Generation Y starts sharing both X and Y chromosomes and Baby Boomers look to minivans to transport their grandchildren (huh?). Global Insight predicts U.S. minivan sales will settle in at around 650,000 through 2012, when they could jump back up to 700k as the market improves. Maybe. Global ignores the fickle nature of fashion-oriented buyers; there's a solid history of generational antipathy, as car buyers reject their parents' vehicles. Still, seven-passenger SUVs, mpg and gas prices… 

Automotive News [AN, sub] continues the Black Tuesday mop-up; this time they pickup on pickup profits. Or lack thereof. "The segment is expected to shrink by about 500,000 units this year to as low as 1.65 million. That's a far cry from the 2.5 million in the peak years of 2004 and 2005." Buried at the end of an article suggesting that now might not be the best time to be launching a new Ford F150 or Dodge Ram (if not now, when), AN reveal that F150 annual sales are tumbling from last year's 690,589 to, by Ford's admission, "well below 600,000 this year." Rounding that out to a 100k hit, at $8k – $10k profit per vehicle, that's $800m to $1b the cratering market's excising from FoMoCo's annual pretax profits. (That's profit folks, not turnover.) Using those same numbers, Ford's "horrendous" 142-day supply (226k) of F150s equates to $1.808,000 to 2.26b to worth of profit locked-up on the lots. AN doesn't run the numbers for GM and can't do the math for Chrysler (it's now mostly owned by private equity). Instead, they offer this helpful tidbit. "Chrysler remains hopeful for a turnaround. 'Whenever gasoline prices spike, there's a free fall in the truck segment,' said Mike Accavitti, director of the Dodge brand. 'But the market is still sizable.' 

I know that's waaaay too easy a headline, but how else would you describe this ad for the Ford Flex, launched this weekend? The TV spot gives the crossover a SteadyCamaroscopy and a 360-degree website spin (or eight) to the tune of the song "Son gonna rise" by Citizen Cope. So the unique selling point is… style. I mean it must be, as there's no strapline revealing its Unique Selling Point, no voiceover announcing its arrival, no nothin'. Ah, but there's another ad [click here]. This one touts the Flex as an "agile, 24mpg crossover," then proclaims– both in narrative and in mescaline-tinged imagery– its drug-like ability to warp-your mind. "Suddenly, everything looks a little different." In fact, "Discover Flex" is as trippy a tagline as I've heard in some time. Like, wow Scoob. 

Even as Detroit races to turn-off the production spigot, dealer inventories are building to abandoned airfield levels. You want to talk trucks? In an industry where a 60-day inventory is ideal, every single GM truck has over a 100-day supply; some many more. While all three automakers swore they'd sworn off incentives (and blamed the move for reduced sales), that was then, this is now. Chrysler's Jim Press signals the fire sales to come. "It is inevitable from our standpoint because we have pricing pressure in terms of cost from steel and plastic," Press said during an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. "Incentives will be a key part but the focus will shift on those products that are facing the headwinds, such as trucks and SUVs, rather than those benefiting from the tailwind like cars." Chrysler? Cars? Tailwind? What tailwind? Anyway, the bottom line: "Chrysler's average incentive per vehicle sold in the U.S. in May was $3,714, the highest figure among the six top-selling auto makers for the month, according to Edmunds.com. Ford's average incentive totaled $3,326 followed by GM at $3,477. Nissan Motor Co.'s (NSANY) average U.S. incentive in May was $2,090, while Honda Motor Co. (HMC) was at $1,256 and Toyota was $1,045."

Chrysler has reported its May sales stats, and it's an ugly picture: overall sales fell 25 percent from last year, to 148,747 units. The Sebring is down 30 percent, the "company saving" 300 fell 59 percent, and the crotchety PT Cruiser slid 48 percent. Overall Chrysler brand sales nosedived 38 percent. Aside from the Patriot (up 82 percent), Jeep's peaked. Every other Jeep product saw double digit declines: Compass (-17), Grand Cherokee (-23) and yes, the Wrangler (-25). Dodge also died a death. While the Caliber was up seven percent, everything else cratered. The Charger faltered (-25), the Avenger retreated (-26) and the Caravan blew town (-25). Obviously all the trucks are getting trashed, from -37 percent for the Ram to -69 percent for the Durango and -56 percent for the Nitro. The only silver lining: The Dodge Boys sold 7520 units of the new Journey (with or without puddles). If they keep up the big mo, they're looking at 87k p.a. (yes, I have a calculator). Co-Prez Jim Press put a brave face on the results, claiming "it's alright Jack keep your hands off my stack." Just kidding. (Or not.) ChryCo's "determined to provide consumers what they need and want." So keep the 300 (available with SRT looks but without the crazy engine) and Charger, Patriot, Wrangler, and Grand Cherokee and Sebring convertible. Everything else has got to go. 

In an interview with Teknikens Värld, Volvo CEO Fredrik Arp revealed that he expected Volvo USA will continue to lose customers. Arp reckons you can figure another 10 percent of their business will head for the hills. That's in addition to May's 25 percent drop. The spin: Volvo's sales in North America are not profitable simply because of the weak dollar– implying (somehow) that good sales are bad, er, bad sales are good. Hang on; does that mean Volvo is losing money on [what remains] of its U.S. sales? Either way, it seems the developer of the three point seatbelt will be moving to a former Ford plant in the USA. Mercedes is doing it, BMW is doing it, the birds and the bees are doing it, so why not a profitable North American plant for Volvo? Of course, if they're preparing to sell the brand, maybe someone at the top reckons its best to cut bait and fish. Does the fact that Volvo isn't on the Ford media site's photo finder drop down menu (separate link) tell you anything?

Yesterday was Black Tuesday for the American auto industry. TTAC's bloggers worked their fingers to the bone trying to keep up with an abandoned airport's worth of bad news. And still we didn't get it all. Anyway, it’s official. For the first time in sixteen years (since December 1992), a car has outsold the ubiquitous Ford F-series pickup trucks. Make that, FOUR cars. Last month, [Edmund's] "seismic shift" sent buyers into Toyota and Honda dealerships seeking fuel efficient sedans, rather than gas guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs. The Toyotas Corolla and Camry, and Hondas Civic and Accord, each outsold Ford's venerable tpickup. Feebly trying to explain F-series’ fifth place finish, Ford’s head sales honcho Jim Farley said, “May was a watershed month. We are, as an industry, catching up with the breathtaking choices customers are now making.” Meanwhile, this simple pistonhead asks: how this could be such a big surprise to a FoMoCo executive? 

Speaking to analysts during a conference call, marketing maven Mark LaNeve said GM "will continue working with [HUMMER] dealers on the appropriate mix of ads, incentives and dealer programs to keep them going and build franchise value." According to an anonymous source (whose information has been independently confirmed), GM has killed the HUMMER brand. The ailing American automaker told its field teams that it's ceased all corporate investment in HUMMER. This includes updates for existing models, the scrapping of the upcoming H4, and a severe cut-back or elimination of marketing and advertising– as contracts allow and media buys can be diverted to other GM brands. The decision pulls the rug from under  171 HUMMER franchisees, including 71 standalone dealers. According to our tipster, GM field ops– who must make nice with the abandoned store owners– are "crapping themselves." Why wouldn't they? Many of these HUMMER dealers have just spent millions upgrading their dealerships to meet brand requirements set forth just two years ago. The first lawsuits have probably already been filed. The rest will follow. Still, closing HUMMER should cost GM less than the billion dollars it spent shuttering Oldsmobile– although that was back when a billion dollars was real money, not GM's monthly cash burn.

GM's May sales numbers were down 30 percent from last May. A disastrous 39 percent dive in truck sales led to so much spin in this month's press release that reading it was like watching a washing machine in full boogie mode. GM blames the sales drop on a number of factors: a "strong May 2007," "a decline in fleet deliveries," the "impact of the American Axle strike" and Hillary Clinton's dismal showing in the polls. OK, I made that last one up. The bright points: the new for '08 Malibu's total sales rose 34 percent (103 percent increase in retail units) and the CTS' total sales climbing by 11 percent (retail sales up 18 percent). The Aveo was up 39 percent total and 22 percent retail, Cobalt was up 15 percent total (but only one percent retail) and Vibe was up 65 percent total with a 36 percent increase in retail sales (so much for declining fleet sales!). Rick Wagoner promises to shift focus from trucks to passenger cars, with cars accounting for 60 percent of their North American production in three years. Judging from May's figures he may want to step up the schedule on that.

Ford's May sales sank 16 percent overall. The number is the result of a 24 percent decline in truck and van sales with a whopping 44 percent drop in SUV sales. Fortunately, The Blue Oval Boyz had good showing on the car side. Fusion sales climbed 27 percent while the Focus ascended by 53 percent. Even though retail sales of cars were up 20 percent, when you factor in a drop in fleet sales (sales to rental companies down 30 percent), overall car sales were up only four percent. The big question, though, is if the F-150 is still the overall sales champ? Sales of the perennial best-seller were down 30.6 percent against last May and are down 18.7 percent year to date. Did it fall far enough for Toyota Camry to pull into the top spot? We'll let you know when all the sales numbers are in.

[Click here for Ford sales Press Release]

In a video interview with USA Today. Ford CEO Alan Mulally admits that American consumers' switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles is permanent. Despite talking-up the new F150's chances of success, Big Al reckons the move from light trucks is "not a temporary shunning of big SUVs while they wait for record fuel prices to drop." Which Mulally says ain't gonna happen, anyway. "It's not like we have a shortage of oil, but recovering what's left under the earth has become very expensive, ensuring continuing high prices." When asked for a new date for The Blue Oval's scheduled return to profitability– previously set at 2009– the former Boeing exec would only say it's delayed by a weak economy and the shift from "high value trucks" to smaller cars. The video clips are interesting to watch, and much less painful than anything from Lutz or Wagoneer. But the spin doesn't stop here. Asked about Volvo, Mulally claimed the ailing Swedish brand isn't for sale. Last April, Mulally told the world Jaguar wasn't for sale. That deal went down yesterday.

No, of course not. And the sentiment is doubly true– OK "applicable"– if you're the CEO of Ford just before launching a new full-size pickup. Especially when full-size pickups sales are down 23 percent over the last three years. And falling. Of course, what else could Alan Mulally say? The F150 is still the country's best-selling vehicle, Ford has to defend its turf and the launch was planned at least three years ago. "What we have to manage is bringing down the overall volume on the trucks and SUVs," Big Al told Automotive News [AN sub]. "As we make this awesome transition to the new one." Like, totally. Big Al's "there's no such thing as bad timing" remark also refers to ALL of FoMoCo's '08 releases. As AN reports, "Ford still aims to hit volume targets previously established for the 2009 Ford Flex crossover and 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan." There's nothing on predicted F150 volumes, but Ford plans to sell between 75k and 100k Flexes and 36k Lincoln MKS per year. Big Al's theory: "Higher gasoline prices shouldn't hurt volumes of the Flex and MKS because consumers who were driving big SUVs are turning to cars and crossovers. They want improved fuel efficiency, but still may need the space of a bigger car." May? Uh-oh.